A client device can be used to interact with an application operating at a host device via a remote desktop session. The host device can be configured to define a stream of screen images representing the interactions of the client device with the application, and can send the stream of screen images to the client device as the interactions are occurring via the remote desktop session. Although the host device can be configured to encode (e.g., compress) the screen images before sending the screen images to the client device where they are displayed, the compressed screen images can consume significant bandwidth over a connection between the client device and the host device. If the screen image updates consume too much bandwidth of the connection, interactions between the client device and the host device during a remote desktop session can be, for example, disrupted. Also, consumption of bandwidth for updates of the screen images at the client device can reduce the available bandwidth, which can already be limited, for other functions. Thus, a need exists for systems, methods, and apparatus to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features.